Nearly 200 COVID-19 cases force Tyson Foods to 'indefinitely suspend' operations at its pork processing plant in Waterloo, Iowa, but the city's mayor says this move came 'too late'

• Meat supplier Tyson Foods, Inc. decided on Wednesday to "indefinitely suspend" operations at its pork processing plant in Waterloo, Iowa, which has been blamed for a large COVID-19 outbreak.
• Nearly 200 people have tested positive for coronavirus, and others, scared of contracting the disease, have been staying home.
• The closure will impact the country's meat supply because "the plant is part of a larger supply chain that includes hundreds of independent farmers, truckers, distributors and customers, including grocers," Tyson Foods said in a statement.
• But Waterloo Mayor Quentin Hart told CNN that this step came "too late."
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Tyson Foods, Inc. announced on Wednesday that it plans to shut down its largest pork plant, located in Waterloo, Iowa, after nearly 200 workers were infected with the coronavirus.

In a press release, the company said it will "indefinitely suspend" operations at the facility where about 2,800 are employed. Team members can return for COVID-19 testing later this week, it added.

In addition to some 180 people who have fallen sick, hundreds — afraid of catching the virus — have stayed home, forcing the plant to cut back on its production levels, the Associated Press reported.

"Despite our continued efforts to keep our people safe while fulfilling our critical role of feeding American families, the combination of worker absenteeism, COVID-19 cases, and community concerns has resulted in our decision to stop production," group president Steve Stouffer said.

This closure will trigger "significant" ripple effects outside Tyson Foods, Stouffer added, because "the plant is part of a larger supply chain that includes hundreds of independent farmers, truckers, distributors and customers, including grocers. It means the loss of a vital market outlet for farmers and further contributes to the disruption of the nation's pork supply."

Although pleased with the plant's closure, Waterloo Mayor Quentin Hart told CNN that this step came "too late."

"We went from 21 cases of Covid on April 9 to about 380 yesterday, and we even doubled that number in two days from 191 to 380. So at this point, closing, cleaning, testing people, is the best scenario for it," he said.

Hart stressed that battling the coronavirus should be a bipartisan issue.

"It hurts when it feels like your pleas to people falls on deaf ears," he told CNN. " This isn't a political issue. It's not a Republican, not a Democrat [issue]. This is a humanitarian issue. And we needed proactive steps to be able to squash this spread."

Tyson Foods has already shuttered its Columbus Junction pork processing plant in a bid to safeguard employees from COVID-19, after 186 people tested positive for the illness, the Hill reported. Four workers at Tyson Food's poultry processing plant in Georgia died of the coronavirus.

The Waterloo plant alone can process around 19,500 hogs a day, AP said. Its closure, combined with that of the Smithfield Foods pork processing facility in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, is sure to disrupt the meat supply nationwide.

Hart acknowledged that the Waterloo plant's closure will affect the national food chain, but underscored that "in order to be able to stop the spread, this was the best course of action to support the workers that prepare our food," according to CNN.